Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1889, volume 6).djvu/636

600 ducting religious worship there was nothing to in- dicate- his blindness ; the hymns and parts of the scripture, though really repeated, were apparently read. In the vigor of his logic and the clearness of his descriptions he strongly resembled his dis- tinguished ancestor. Williams gave him the de- gree of D. D. in 1846. See " The Autobiography of a Blind Minister, including Sketches of the Men and Events of his Time " (Boston, 1856), and a " Dis- course at the Funeral of the Rev. Timothy Wood- bridge," by William B. Sprague, D. D. (Albany, 1863). — John's descendant in the fifth generation, William, governor of Michigan, b. in Norwich, Conn., 20 Aug., 1780 ; d. in Detroit. Mich.. 20 Oct., 1861, removed with his father, Dudley (1747-1823), one of the earliest emigrants, to the Northwest ter- ritory, to Marietta, Ohio, in 1791, but was sent to Connecticut to receive his education. After study- ing at the Litchfield law-school, he was admitted to the bar of Ohio in 1806, and in 1807 was elected to the assembly. From 1808 till 1814 he was prose- cuting attorney for New London county, Ohio, and he was also a member of the state senate. In 1814 he received from President Madison the appoint- ment of secretary of the territory of Michigan, and removed to Detroit. For a long time he was legal adviser of John Jacob Astor's northwest fur com- pany, and was counsel in important Canadian cases against the Hudson bay company. He was elected the first delegate to congress from Michigan, serv- ing from 1819 till 1820, when he resigned. He was instrumental in procuring government aid toward constructing a road through the " Black Swamp " to connect Detroit with Ohio, and also toward 'exploration of the Northwest territory. From 1828 till 1832 he was judge of the superior court of Michigan territory, and in 1835 he was a dele- gate to the State constitutional con- vention. He was elected to the state senate in 1837, was governor of Mich- igan in 1840-1, and. being chosen to the U. S. sen- ate, served from 31 Mav, 1841, till 3 March, 1847. Dan- iel Webster, in a note to his speech in defence of the Ashburton treaty, attributed to Mr. Woodbridge the first suggestion that was ever made to him for inserting in that treaty a pro- vision for the surrender of fugitives under cer- tain circumstances, upon the demand of foreign governments. For many years before his death he lived at his country-seat near Detroit, and de- voted himself to his books and to horticulture. He married Juliana, daughter of John Trumbull, au- thor of " McFingal." See his " Life." by Charles Lanman (Washington, 1867). — The first Timothy's great-grandson, William Channing, educator, b. in Medford, Mass., 18 Dec, 1794 ; d. in "Boston, Mass., 9 Nov., 1845, was graduated at Yale in 1811,- and studied medicine and theology, but was never or- dained. In 1812-14 he was principal of the Bur- lington academy, N. J., and in 1817 he became an instructor in the institution for the deaf and dumb in Hartford, Conn., remaining there for three years, and being licensed to preach by the Congregational association of that city. He then visited Europe three times, and on his return devoted himself to elevating the condition of the common schools, and introduced the Pestalozzian system of instruc- tion as modified by Philip Emanuel von Fellen- berg, and by his own observations. In August, 1831, he purchased the "American Journal of Edu- cation," changed its name to " The Annals of Edu- cation," and published it until 1838, serving also as one of its editors. In this appeared a series of "Letters from Hof wyl," in which he gave an account of Fellenberg's system of instruction. He published " Universal Geography, Ancient and Modern," with Mrs. Emma Willard (Hartford, 1824), and was the author of "Rudiments of Geography" (Hartford, 1833); "Modern School Geography " ; and other text-books for schools. — John's descendant in the seventh generation. Samuel Merrill, clergyman, b. in Greenfield, Mass., 5 April, 1819, was graduated at the University of the city of New York in 1838 and at the theological seminary at New Brunswick, N. J., in 1842, and became pastor of the Dutch Reformed churches in South Brooklyn in 1841, in Coxsackie, N. Y., in 1850, and in New Brunswick, N. J., in 1852. From 1857 till 1864 he was professor of ecclesiastical his- tory and church government, and dean of the theo- logical seminary of the Reformed church in New Brunswick, and also professor of church history there after 1856. He received the degrees of D. D. from Rutgers in 1857 and Union in 1858, and LL. D. from Rutgers in 1883. Besides addresses and sermons, he has published an "Analysis of Theology" (New York, 1872). — John's descendant in the eighth generation, Frederick Enoch, lawyer, b. in Vergennes, Vt., 29 Aug., 1819 ; d. there, 26 April, 1888, after graduation at the University of Vermont in 1840, studied law xmder his father, Enoch D. Woodbridge, was admitted to the bar in 1842, and practised in his native town. He was long a member of the legislature, state auditor in 1850-'2, prosecuting attorney in 1854-'8, and many times mayor of his native city. In 1860-'2 he served in the state senate, of which he was presi- dent pro tempore in 1861. He was then elected to congress as a Republican, served from 7 Dec, 1863, till 3 March, 1869, and was a member of the com- mittees on the judiciary and private land-claims, and chairman of that on the pay of officials of con- gress. He was a delegate to the Philadelphia loyal- ists' convention of 1866. Mr. Woodbridge engaged in railroad enterprises, and for several years was vice-president and active manager of the Rutland and Washington railroad. — John's descendant, in the 7th generation, Abby D wight, b. in Jackson, Me., 27 Sept., 1808 ; d. 23 Feb., 1866, taught for many years in Albany and Brooklyn, and was the author of numerous poems.

WOODBURY, Augustus, author, b. in Beverly, Mass., in 1825. He was graduated at Phillips Exeter academy in 1846, and at the divinity-school of Harvard in 1849, and became pastor of Unitarian churches in Concord, N. H., in 1849, in Lowell, Mass., in 1853, and of Westminster Unitarian church, Providence, R. I., which place he still holds. He was chairman of inspectors of the Rhode Island state prison in 1866-'77, and in 1875-'9 was a member of the commission for building the state prison. He was chaplain of the 1st Rhode Island regiment from April till August, 1861, and in 1874-'5 was chaplain-in-chief of the Grand army of the republic Since 1883 he has been president of the Providence athenaeum. Harvard gave him the degree of A. M. in 1866. and Brown that of D. D. in 1888. He is the author of